- Title: COLOMBIA: Transport minister says crashed Colombian plane was struck by lightning
- Date: 17th August 2010
- Summary: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA (AUGUST 16, 2010) (REUTERS) GENERAL VIEW OF TRANSPORTATION BUILDING VARIOUS OF CONTROL ROOM, WORKERS LOOKING AT RADARS GENERAL VIEW VARIOUS OF WORKERS MONITORING RADARS GENERAL VIEW OF MINISTER OF TRANSPORTATION GERMAN CARDONA DURING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MINISTER OF TRANSPORTATION GERMAN CARDONA SAYING: "It was a flight that was carrying on under perfectly normal conditions. It departed at 12:07 at night from Bogota, it was arriving according to schedule, it was nearing the San Andres island at 01:49am. It seems that the weather conditions on the island at the moment were complicated and based on the first information that we received a lightning bolt struck the airplane and caused the tragedy that you are all aware of and fortunately, except for the regrettable death of the woman, we have not had any other tragic developments. We do have a girl who is in a very delicate state of health." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE AT COUNTER AT AIRPORT HOTEL WHERE FAMILY MEMBERS OF PASSENGERS ARE GATHERING FLAGS OUTSIDE HOTEL (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FAMILY MEMBER OF PASSENGER, LIBARDO RAMIREZ, SAYING: "Since the accident happened, I need information, they are not giving any information."
- Embargoed: 1st September 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Colombia
- Country: Colombia
- Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Transport
- Reuters ID: LVA41PJ8PKTMUXIUJMYDCKG56X2
- Story Text: A Colombian passenger jet crashed and broke into pieces while landing on San Andres island on Monday (August 16) during a predawn storm, injuring 114 passengers while one died of a heart attack.
Witnesses said is was fortunate more people were not killed, considering the fuselage of the aircraft cracked into three parts on impact.
Colombia's Minister of Transportation German Cardona told journalists the flight had started off without incident but had encountered bad weather once it approached the island.
"It was a flight that was carrying on under perfectly normal conditions. It departed at 12:07 at night from Bogota, it was arriving according to schedule, it was nearing the San Andres island at 01:49am. It seems that the weather conditions on the island at the moment were complicated and based on the first information that we received, a lightning bolt struck the airplane and caused the tragedy that you are all aware of and fortunately, except for the regrettable death of the woman, we have not had any other tragic developments. We do have a girl who is in a very delicate state of health," he said.
Passenger Amar Fernandez de Barretos, 65, suffered a heart attack just after the accident and died on her way to a local clinic.
The white, blue and green painted Boeing 737 operated by local airline Aires was carrying 121 passengers and six crew members. It was arriving on the Caribbean resort island when it crashed amid lightning and heavy winds.
The injured were taken to local hospitals. Many were later transported to Bogota, the capital, for care.
One family member told reporters he had yet to receive any information regarding his loved one injured on the flight.
"Since the accident happened, I need information, they are not giving any information," Libardo Ramirez said.
The island's airport was closed to allow the investigation to proceed. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
